Ohu village children run ahead, arranging themselves in various tableaux in the forest, to surprise the hiking party from Binatang Research Centre, Ohu Conservation Area, near Madang, Papua New Guinea.

A newly cleared food garden – secondary forest (in this case) cut down during the dry season and burned to fertilize the soil, then mixed crops are planted and harvested for 1-2 years, after which the garden is abandoned and left to secondary succession – to be overgrown by secondary forest again. This is called slash-and-burn agriculture, or swidden agriculture. It is an example of extensive agriculture highly demanding of land area and thus putting pressure on forests.

Specimens from rainforest trees in the Binatang Research Centre herbarium.

A display case showing the rich diversity of butterflies found in the Madang area at The New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, Papua New Guinea.

Front entrance to The New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, Madang, Papua New Guinea.

Entrance to Ohu village, near Madang, Papua New Guinea.

Ohu village children run ahead, arranging themselves in various tableaux in the forest, to surprise the hiking party from Binatang Research Centre, Ohu Conservation Area, near Madang, Papua New Guinea.

A newly cleared food garden – secondary forest (in this case) cut down during the dry season and burned to fertilize the soil, then mixed crops are planted and harvested for 1-2 years, after which the garden is abandoned and left to secondary succession – to be overgrown by secondary forest again. This is called slash-and-burn agriculture, or swidden agriculture. It is an example of extensive agriculture highly demanding of land area and thus putting pressure on forests.

Specimens from rainforest trees in the Binatang Research Centre herbarium.